New police lockup set to open amid community concerns
Workers putting the finishing touches on the Calgary Police Service’s new arrest processing unit were testing the alarms on Monday, two days before it accepts its first detainee.
The CPS acknowledges the opening of a new lockup along 85 Street N.W. has sparked some alarm among residential neighbours who fear it will bring more offenders to the area.
“For the first six months of the facility, we will be evaluating that (crime impact) data,” said Staff Sgt. Jennifer Lessard, the lead on a project eight years in the making.
There have been concerns among residents of nearby Rocky Ridge and Royal Oak about released suspects transiting through the area, said the president of the community association that represents both neighbourhoods.
“It’s always worrisome when something like this opens,” said Dino Petrakos.
But he said the CPS seems to have taken those concerns to heart by adopting a taxi chit program for those who are released — an average of about 10 a day — and have no one to pick them up.
“It’s a much better workaround than in the past,” said Petrakos.
There’s no doubt about the need for a much bigger, more efficient and modern facility where suspects make their first stop in the legal system, say police.
The old APU downtown — which is nearing its 60th birthday — was built for a city of 241,000. The new $25 million, 49,000-square-foot facility — situated near four other lockups in the city’s far northwest — has 50 cells, double its downtown counterpart.
“It should have sufficient capacity for 60 or 70 years,” said Lessard.
It has the same spartan look as most other jails, with white cinder block construction and heavy, grey steel cell doors. But, it’s built to recognize the diversity and needs of today’s detainees, she said.
“It’s not about the bricks and mortar; it’s taking the opportunity to enhance procedures and engage with the community,” she said.
Detention settings and processes will be geared to the needs of a greater diversity of suspects, said Lessard.
For example, “for Muslim prisoners, some of the cells have (painted) dots representing Mecca so they know which direction to pray,” she said.
At one central area, small rainbow and transgender flags adorn a wall.
Detainees in cells will also have an easier time communicating with lawyers, thanks to Skype availability.
A cavernous, four-door entry garage means prisoners will be driven straight into the facility, thus ending the so-called perp walk that’s enabled media photographers to capture images of suspects.
Separate entrances will keep apart adult and youth arrestees, who will also have improved medical care and cells with more protections against self-harm, says the CPS.
Prior to the pandemic, city police were admitting an average of 40 suspects a day — a number that’s dropped in recent months to about 30.
It’s expected that about 40 arrestees will leave the APU daily, half of them transferred to other lockups like the Calgary Remand Centre next door, say police.